Church

St Peter the Apostle, South Elmham

St Peter the Apostle, South Elmham

St Peter’s is a Grade II* parish church in South Elmham St Peter, one of the Saints of north Suffolk. The fabric is twelfth- and fourteenth-century: nave, chancel, south porch and west tower in rubble flint with stone dressings.

Location
South Elmham, Suffolk
Country
England
County
Suffolk
City / town
South Elmham
Address
South Elmham, Suffolk, NR35 1NG
Postcode
NR35 1NG
Built
12th and 14th centuries
Denomination
Church of England
Dedication
Peter the Apostle
Diocese
St Edmundsbury and Ipswich
Parish
St Peter, South Elmham
Grade
II*
Style
Norman and Decorated
Materials
Rubble flint to nave and chancel with stone dressings; slate roofs; tower of rubble flint mixed with stone and red brick
Grid reference
TM 335 848
Opening hours
Open every day, please visit within daylight hours. There are two shallow steps to enter, however a ramp is available upon request. Limited parking available on the lane outside the church.
Access
Ramp or level access available on request

Overview

Historic England lists a small four-stage west tower with diagonal buttresses, flint-and-stone chequerwork and a battlemented panelled parapet. Nave windows are fourteenth- and fifteenth-century; the chancel has Y-tracery to the south and a three-light east window with intersecting tracery. The south doorway is a plain Norman opening with one order of shafts and cushion capitals. The fourteenth-century chancel arch has a continuous outer moulding decorated with fleurons and heads. The fifteenth-century font has seated lions around the shaft and a bowl of alternating blank shields and Tudor roses. A piscina survives beside the altar.

A north chapel of Our Lady, burial place of John Tasburgh (d. 1473) and Margery Tasburgh (d. 1485), was probably demolished in 1834–35; only marks of its entrance remain. The church is in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, in one of the smallest parishes in East Anglia.

Further Information